Email aliases

An 'Email Alias' is not a 'real' email account. It is an additional email address set up to forward emails it receives to an another email address.

Target Audience: Massey University staff

An alias allows an email address to be provided to senders without identifying who the recipient is. This is useful in situations - such as advertising a function on web pages - when you don't want your own email address published.

For example: An email alias called dept-conference@masssey.ac.nz is set up as an alias of A.B.Person. All emails received by dept-conference@masssey.ac.nz are automatically forwarded to A.B.Person@massey.ac.nz.

Note:

Emails sent to an alias address from within Massey University via an email client (e.g. Outlook), show the alias owner details (either the recipient's address e.g. A.B.Person or their name) not the alias text (e.g. dept-conference@massey.ac.nz) in the "To:" line of the email.

Emails sent to the alias (e.g. dept-conference@massey.ac.nz), which are received in the recipient's (e.g. A.B.Person) mailbox, show the recipient's email address.

Sometimes, staff request additional email aliases when they require a Generic (Shared Mailbox). If you are unsure of your requirements please contact the ITS Service Desk.

Applying for an email alias

You need to included a short ‘business case’ justifying the purpose and intended use of the alias. Ideally, if you are going to request an alias for an external campaign or advertisement, you should submit these in timely manner to allow enough time to be reviewed.

Requests for email aliases are assessed individually and not approved automatically. It may take time to determine an appropriate email alias and the preferred alias may not be available. Other alias names may be suggested.

If the request for an alias is approved and activated, a test message will be sent to the address to inform the user of its existence.

If the request is rejected, the user can revise the request, if appropriate.

General specifications for an email alias

Email aliases must be:

Unambiguous, logical and practical

Represent the business needs of the department or person requesting the alias by providing the department's name (or abbreviation) and proposed use of the alias. For example, If the email alias is to receive conference registrations posted from a website, the alias could be: [name of conference].register@massey.ac.nz. If the alias is for external use as a contact channel to reach specific Massey University staff, a more simple address can be considered.

They can also be up to 30 characters long (which allows for informative and descriptive aliases to be allocated).

Service cost

There is no cost for this service.

Restrictions on using an email alias

There are no restrictions on using an email alias. It can be advertised and utilised in the same manner as a standard email address.

Note: If the email alias 'owner' leaves Massey University, his/her usercode (and hence email address) will be deactivated so the email alias will no longer function. This means emails sent to the alias may be lost unless ownership of the alias is transferred to another email address.

Page authorised by CIO
Last updated on Thursday 08 February 2018

Contact the Service Desk

Phone 06-356-9099 ext. 82111 (preferred method)

7:45am - 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Public and University holidays)